Imagine, if you will, being able to be in Alice’s shoes when she goes down the rabbit hole and her whole world expands and contracts around her in a matter of seconds. Now, imagine you can do that but without potions, cakes, or hookahs, but rather with a Nintendo Virtual Boy and a carefully situated GIF animation. Furthermore, imagine that the being that lures you to this magical mystery land is not a rabbit with a pocket watch but a skeleton drinking a can of Pepsi.
Confused? Then this video by Sevilla, Spain artist Pedro LaDroga will confuse you more than you can imagine, but strangely will give you a clearer mental image. Web 1.0 graphics courtesy of John Karel bring out the nostalgia for those still remembering their first trips online thanks to free AOL CD-Roms. The skeleton in question does a ton of seemingly random things, encountering along the way several brand name products. Now, I have seen the video a bunch of times and it doesn’t seem to follow any type of narrative act but I still get the feeling deep down that there’s a story going on with what the skeleton is doing. I haven’t watched this high, perhaps that’s the missing element to my theory.
Pedro is part of the La Droga Lab collective, along with other acts as Nerbi and AcidoP, the latter with which LaDroga has the project 9Tres//9 Cuatro; although Mexico’s excellent Pira.MD Records are responsible for his latest release.
So, what does “≅ ☀ L U Z ☀ ≅” sound like? Hallucinoblog Reyna Ventura describes the sound as “hip-hop with a strange mixture of vaporwave and reggaeton.” Indeed, Pedro’s autotuned vocals could have been featured on a Don Omar joint, but there’s also a hint of Drake to what he does. The beat features a very prominent grungey goth guitar arpeggio that feels spooky yet familiar. The more I think about it, the more I think the music is stranger than the video.
Don’t question too much, Pedro has the perfect prescription for you.